Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by HopDerek:

I've sampled this beer many previous times at Busch Gardens and decided it was worth picking up a bottle when I saw one.

Pours a clear dark amber with 2 fingers of foamy off-white head. Good retention leaves ok lacing. Smells of allspice, pumpkin, caramel, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Tastes of clove, nutmeg, honey, pumpkin, some light malt, with a little citrus and cinnamon kick in the finish. Medium in body with good carbonation. Smooth with a nice crispness. Not too spiced, easy to detect the pumpkin. A sessionable pumpkin ale, and a surprisingly enjoyable brew from AB.

More User Reviews:

Pumpkin Ale is synonymous with the fall, and is a style that can be served far into the holiday season. Pumpkin is not all that new to beer either, as American settlers centuries ago brewed with it.

Fluffy off-white head from a hard pour, shows good head retention as it leaves a few sticky patches on the glass. Bright brassy orange color has a flawless clarity. Bit of ale fruitiness in the nose with a mingling of spicing, pumpkin and faint earthy hop that follows. Moderate body, a little wet with a thin sweetness throughout. Smooth carbonation adds to the refreshing mouthfeel. Cinnamon seems to be the biggest assist with the even spicing, layers of nutmeg and an allspice blend present. Malt holds together for the most part and couples with the mild pumpkin character, all which is surrounded by the even spicing. Sufficient bitterness from the hops with a hint of woody or leafy flavor in the dry spicy finish.

Not as raw, gritty or over-spiced as many of the pumpkin ales are. It's also not as thin as a soda-like as some breweries' renditions, it sits right in the middle of the style--which is a good thing. Jack's is clean, drinkable and balanced. Perhaps a bit too clean. The spicing seems to be kept in check this year which is a plus. Worthy of being paired with a turkey dinner.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: The head builds up tall and has a creamy off white color. It quickly fades down to a thin ring of lace around the edge of the glass. This head sits on top of a golden honey colored body with very good clarity.

Smell: The aroma has a light grainy character with a lots of pumpkin pie spice mixed in.

Taste/Mouth feel: It has a bit hit of spice throughout with cinnamon being most noticeable over other pumpkin pie spices. Hop flavor seems neutral but it adds bitterness the cinnamon flavor. Underneath there is a mildly sweet malty flavor with some mild pumpkin flavor. The finishes quickly and has a grainy alcohol quality to it. The body is light to medium with a thin, watery and slick feel. Its carbonation is about average.

Notes: Overall this is defiantly not a standout and its fairly heavy spicing can become a little bit overpowering, limiting drinkability to one or two 12oz bottles.

I didn't realize that this was made by Anheuser-Busch when I tried it, but the artificial flavors should have keyed me off. It was drinkable, but far from a good pumpkin ale.

This beer was very easy to drink. Up front, it had an almost Bud Light feel to it. The pumpkin afterwards was exceptionally artificial.

A- It had a nice orangey amber color, very appropriate for the style. The head was thin and left a weak lacing.

S- I got a sort of candy pumpkin smell. There were some traces of cinnamon, but nothing to distinct.

T- This is where the beer lost me. It tasted extremely artificial. Despite that, I would highly recommend this to people who aren't into craft beers yet. It is a great stepping stone from generic macrobrews to distinct craft beers.

M- Very very light. I'd call it the Bud Light of pumpkin ales. Not what I was looking for, but for someone who thinks that Guinness is heavy, this could be something special.

I myself will not drink this again; but I will recommend it to new beer drinkers who are gradually becoming more enveloped into craft beers.

Drank in a pint glass. Pale yellow/orange. Great carbonation. Good head to start, faded a little. Good lacing on the glass.

Smell is tart like a hefeweizen with a little spice. Most likely from the nutmeg and clove. Smells like a hefeweizen, but has a little more malt like an amber.

The pumpkin is almost non-existent. The fruitiness and tartness of a hefeweizen with a little more body. I think the ginger was more prevalent than any of the other spices used. Good beer with depth, but missed the autumnal, pumpkin thing.

Drinkability: An ok pumpkin beer that really suffers because of that strange almost burnt malt taste towards the end. There are certainly others in this style I would reach for first. I could have a six due to the lightness, and would not turn it down...but there are better versions out there.

The beer pours an orange color with a white head. The aroma is a mix of caramel malt, cloves and cinnamon. The flavor is dominated by a strong cinnamon component, but I also get some toffee, nutmeg and cloves. There is not too much pumpkin flavor in the beer, and what is there is overshadowed by the spices. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Smell: The spices really come through and can detect the cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. Does give off the impression of pumpkin pie, although I do not think they use any actual pumpkin.

Taste: Simple malt backbone that would be expected of an Amber Ale. The spices are pretty subtle overall, just giving the impression of pumpkin pie or other autumn spiced goodies. Minor noble hop presence as well.

Feel: Moderate carbonation, light to medium body.

Drinkability: Pretty easy to drink as it is smooth and well balanced, but I wish it had a little more spice and/or hops.

Poured into a pint glass,an slightly off white head,not real thick,just a slight layer after the pour.A light coppery.amberish color.Nice lacing,looks well carbinated.
A breaddy smell with hints of cinnamon,clove,slight ginger
Tastes thin ,a taste of cinnamon,then a hint of ginger,a slight bitter finish with a hint of clove.A thin mouthfeel for a beer this color,a little flat in the taste department. Not a bad beer just needs to be kicked up a notch.The beer reminds me of drinking a soda after all the ice melted.

Kudos to A-B for recognizing that there is interest out there in flavorful beers and seasonal favorites. I'm trying this in acknowledgment of their awakening.

Crystal clear liquid the color of a brand new penny with a thin white head that sinks away quickly. Aroma of sweet malt and spice, some light pumpkin, but also some soapy notes. Mouthfeel is initially slick and watery, but fizzes some bubbles across the tongue. Flavor is not too intense and not too complex, but an even mix of the malt you expect and the pumpkin and the spice that you anticipate from a seasonal offering such as this. Plus some caramel notes to confuse Joe SixPack. But again, not too intense and not too complex, which will frustrate Joe BA. This one plays it safe to appeal to the masses. But that's okay if it can be a stepping stone to better beer for the masses.

I wouldn't have guessed it was an A-B product if I didn't already know. Probably the best beer I've had from them, but not the best (or worst) pumpkin ale I've had.

Appears a clear copper hue with a bright off white fizzy head. Aroma nice brilliant mild mix of clove/allspice/nutmeg/cinnamon no real pumpkin rind for me. Flavor is a bit much not real enjoyable or balanced, it's a straight up mix of pumpkin spice little thin malt an no pumpkin flesh to balance. This is pumpkin ale for the masses way different from the average Michelob, but still pretty horrible overall. Mouthfeel is thin and overly carbonated, tickles the back of throat in the worst way. Drinkability overall sucks, this is another hard to finish beer that actually makes you want to despise a popular trendy style that doesn't have to suck.

Pours a definate darker pumpkin color with a very nice two finger white head that melts slowly to very sticky glass covering lacing.
Aroma...uh, I actually smell pumpkin in here. Most pumpkin beers I've tried smell like cinnamon and pumpkin spice but not really fresh pumpkin. This smells like pumpkin spice AND fresh pumpkin.
Taste is sweet malt and ...yep...you got it...pumpkin and lots of spices. Some pumpkin beer spices taste sort of powdery. Again, this tastes clean and fresh.
Mouthfeel is rich and full with the bite of tiny carbonation.
Aftertaste is of the cinnamon spices.
VERY nice....good job, AB.

This beer pours a clear orange/red with a large white foamy head. The smell is very pungent with cinnamon, pumpkin.and bread yeast. The smell is strong and smells too overpowering and fake. The taste is pumpkin,cinnamon with a very thin aftertaste. This is like pumpkin pie. One of the few pumpkin beers that's not too overpowering taste wise with fake pumpkin spices. The m/f is very thin and light with the flavors mixing only OK. Not a bad pumpkin beer,but have you really ever had a good one?

Appearance: Decent head and lots of lacing sticking to my pint glass. Lots of bubbles floating to the top, with a hazy golden yellow hue with slight brown tints.

Smell: Harshly alcoholic? Very astringent, which overshadows some of the aromas that are way in the back because of the harshness. Some vanilla, cinnamon, maybe some slight pumpkin. Just way too damn harsh.

Taste: I think the lack of quality ingredients are the cause of the beer being wholly average. The best thing about it is the aftertaste, somehow finally being capped off by some slightly balanced malt sweetness. The taste, though? Some malt sweetness, a mishmash of subtle spice, and maybe some clove and cinnamon. Finishes slightly malty, as I said, and slightly dry.

Drinkability: Not the best pumpkin ale for all that are out there. And not saying I'd buy a 6-pack of it, which I wouldn't, but it's one of the better brews in the winter variety pack (if that's any consolation?).

It's a baked golden-orange in the glass with a trimming of beige that leaves a decent amount of lace.Pie crust nose with big contributions from clove, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon.These four horsemen show up immediately in the mouth, riding wave after wave of fizz to assault the mouth with spice-laden, astringent mineral water. The nutmeg and allspice are particularly brash, though cinnamon is big too. Had any real malt structure been in place, the spice would have something to settle on and compliment. Here, they seem stranded and frantic. Some honey sweetness materializes as it warms, and still stays littered with spice.The watery, fizzy, light body cannot support what's going on here. The spicing goes from peppery to bitter to astringent without anything to rein it in. It's not their fault; in a different beer they'd be right at home. Not here. Ick.

More of a malt play, sub par for style. The spice is almost too faint, its there, but its in the deep secondary: clove, ginger, nutmeg and cinammon. Pumpkin also faint. Thin, above average carbonation. Malt dust in aroma, big initial head. Forgettable but drinkable.

Pours out a light amber brew with a 2 finger white head.Funny thing is it smell like beer,,no hints of anything pumpkiny at all,,kinda disappointing. Taste is very pale,,not horrible it is drinkable but i cant really taste anything special. Tiny bit of sweetness,,nothing much else. Probably a good beer for someone who is not into very flavorful beer.